A Good Knight's Rest
by ejb
Summary: After a hard fought battle Tristran has trouble sleeping.


Disclaimer: I don't own the rights, the movie company does.

Thanks to my beta readers for spotting things I didn't and for making suggestions to make this story read a lot better.

A Good (K)night's Rest

It had been a long hard battle that day. The days and nights before had seen strong, bitterly cold winds, heavy rain. The night before had been icily cold and now thick frost covered the already rain-soaked land. Trying to keep the horses from stumbling and slipping on the frozen ground whilst their riders were engaged in a fight with a group of Woads was pure skill. Matters were made worse when heavy snow began to fall during the battle, blinding and stinging the eyes of the knights as they fought on.

They were at last rewarded by seeing Woad corpses in the blood-stained snow. Apart from Galahad who'd suffered a deep cut on his arm, they were remarkably unscathed after the skirmish. The knights carefully made their way back to the fort at Cilurnum, looking forward to the warmth and rest that they would find there.

Tristran felt too cold and tired to spend long in the tavern. It had begun to snow again after they returned, so after having something to eat and drink he left to go to his quarter's intent on having a good sleep.

It was dark and as he went through the door his foot kicked something hard on the floor that he hadn't expected to be there. Whatever it was had been knocked over but Tristran didn't really care; it could wait until morning. He wasn't going to bother lighting the lamp to see now. He knew his quarters well enough to know where his bed was and headed straight for it and lay down.

Now it felt good to stretch out and ease the aches and stresses of the battle away. He pulled his blankets over him and was soon asleep.

After an hour or so he was awakened by something wet dripping on his face. At first he thought he was dreaming and tried to go to sleep again but then the dripping started again; the next drip had gone down his ear as he turned over in his bed.

Tristran looked up and realised he could see one or two stars shining in the night sky. The strong winds must have blown some of the tiles from the roof and the melting snow was now dripping in. He gathered his blankets together and went into the outer room where his food and equipment were stored. After checking that the roof in that area was in a good condition above him, he settled down on the floor, wrapped his blankets around him and tried to resume his sleep. _'I must remember to tell the tile maker to fix my roof tomorrow,_' he thought as he lay there in the darkness before falling asleep again.

It was not to be a long sleep though because a few minutes later Tristan was woken to the sound of loud squeaks and lots of scuttling sounds then something soft and furry was running over his face.

Tristran jumped up and lit the oil lamp that was close by. He was alarmed to see that he now had the company of four edible dormice. They were running around and enjoying the freedom that he had given them from the cage that had been placed in front of the door. Tristran now realised what he had kicked over when he came in.

Now he knew what Glaevin meant when he'd told him that he left something tasty for him to eat that he managed to acquire from the Roman store keeper and he hoped he would enjoy them.

As he gazed at some of his half gnawed apples and his supply of bread scattered all over he wished Glaevin had not bothered. Tristran was tired, Tristran was cold and now Tristran was getting angry. He managed to catch all four rodents after a chase that lasted several minutes and got them back into the cage.

"You'll make fine meals for my hawk," he told them as he fastened the catch securely. He never could share the enthusiasm that the Romans and some of his brother knights had for this particular delicacy.

Thinking that the scratching and squeaking from the now imprisoned dormice would disturb him, Tristan picked up his blankets and decided to go to Gawain's quarters to see if he could get some sleep there.

Gawain had just returned from the tavern and was about to go to bed himself when Tristran knocked and came in carrying his blankets.

"My roof's leaking and the snow is dripping in," Tristran explained to him. He wasn't going to tell Gawain about the dormice too and asked him, "Can I sleep in here for the night?"

"Yes, make yourself comfortable," Gawain told him. "Glaevin got me some extra blankets you can use to ease the hardness of the floor."

Gawain got the blankets, gave them to Tristran, and then he went to his own bed. Tristran once again settled down on the floor and wished that Glaevin had given him extra blankets instead of edible dormice as a gift from the Roman storekeeper.

Soon both knights were fast asleep after the weariness of the battle and the difficult journey back to the fort. Gawain, however was in the deepest sleep after consuming a lot of wine in the tavern and began to snore very loudly. Tristran was quickly awake again, as a scout he had learned to be alert to the slightest noise. Be it a snoring brother knight or a squeaking dormouse, Tristran would awake to it. Once again sleep was eluding him.

Tristran lay still and debated what to do next. Gawain's snores were getting louder and showed no sign of stopping. The way Tristran now felt, Gawain never knew how close he was to having a knife stuck in him that night. If he did he would have been awake in an instant and thinking how lucky he was to be alive.

Tristan's next thought was to try and go to another knight's quarters but it was hard to choose which one. Lancelot would no doubt be entertaining a female in his quarters now. Dagonet's quarters were very close to the tavern where it would be noisy until the early hours as he knew from experience. Glaevin had an eye for the serving girls too so Tristran was reluctant to go there. Galahad had been wounded and needed his rest; disturbing him was out of the question.

Picking up his blankets again, Tristran decided to go to the only other place where he knew he would be warm and comfortable for the night. He left Gawain still snoring loudly, and after picking up one of his host's apples in exchange for letting him live, Tristran walked outside to the stables. It was beginning to snow again and lying quite deep now on the ground.

His horse whinnied in recognition when Tristran walked in. He fed Gawain's apple to him and stroked the animal's nose.

"Now my friend, I know we have often spent nights together under the stars, but now I will share your roof for tonight," he told the horse.

At last warm and comfortable on a bed of hay, Tristran managed to sleep for the remainder of the night. He heard the odd squeak and scurry of stable mice and the familiar noises from the horses but now being so tired, warm and dry he managed to ignore them and fall into a comfortable sleep.

The next day was bright and sunny when Tristan emerged from the stable after a good sleep. The snow made everything look clean and bright around the fort and on the roofs. Tristran smiled silently to himself after seeing two Romans slip down on the snow while he was going to find the tile maker. He eventually found him and asked if he would repair his roof in exchange for a dormouse, which the tile maker readily agreed to. Tristran then went to the tavern for some breakfast. It was quiet and he enjoyed his meal of bread, cheese and ale. Galahad then came in too with his wounded arm in a sling.

"I've just got out of the infirmary," he told Tristran. "The physician wanted me to stay there for the night as he was worried about how bad my wound was after I lost so much blood and wanted to keep it checked over. He said it was healing well now and I could go now but I have to keep my arm rested."

Tristran groaned inwardly, '_Why didn't I check where Galahad was before I passed over going to his quarters last night?' _he asked himself as he thought of the comfortable unoccupied bed in Galahad's quarters that he could have used instead of all the trouble he'd had to get a good night's rest.

Afterwards he went back to his quarters and found the tile maker had just finished the repairs on his roof. Tristran gave him one of the dormice as promised and was given grateful thanks for the gift.

When the tile maker had gone Tristran looked at the three remaining dormice and knew what he had to do next. There would be enough on one of them to keep his hawk alive for a while in this bitter weather when she would find it difficult to find food for herself. He would keep the other two alive here in the cage for a while longer to sustain her.

He reached into the cage and seized one of the dormice and killed it quickly. He put it into one of his leather bags then pulled on his long boots and trudged through the snow until he reached a favourite spot by a tree outside the fort.

He whistled for his hawk and seconds later she circled above him and hovered for a while before settling on his arm. "I bet you are hungry," he said to the bird as he stroked the soft feathers on her chest. "Well, I have a treat for you today."

Smiling, he watched his hawk take the dead dormouse from him. She quickly flew into the tree to devour it. She showed her gratitude to him by showering his head and shoulders with the heavy snow that had been covering the branches. Tristran brushed the snow from him with annoyance and left her to enjoy her feast, retreating quickly back into the fort. He hoped the weather would keep any further Woad activities at bay and Arthur would not have any plans for him or the other knights.

Tristran went back to his quarters and changed out of his wet clothes, spreading them out to dry along with his damp bedding from the night before. He built up the small fire in the grate that provided heat and cooking facilities. He sat and meditated over the events of the last day and night for a while. Then glancing over at the remaining two dormice in the cage, he noticed that they were now curled up against each other and in a deep sleep. Tristran cut up some of his apples and pieces of bread for them to eat later and put them into the cage. He added some straw from the stable to make them more comfortable and make it easier for him to keep the cage clean. Once his clothes and bedding were dry he put them away. All he wanted to do now was go into the warmth of the tavern and enjoy some good food and drink.

As he made his way to the tavern he saw several small boys now out playing in the snow. They were making large balls of it and using them as missiles to throw at each other but stopped when they saw Tristran approaching. That is all but one younger boy who had been carried away with the excitement and had not been as observant as his friends. SPLAT! The snowball scored a direct hit into the back of Tristran's head and the boys fled in fear of their lives. They had been told many things about Tristran from the people in the vicas; a lot were exaggerated but small boys were inclined to believe them and not take any chances.

Dagonet, was just about to go into the tavern and witnessed the event. He knew what sort of mood Tristran would be in now and tried to keep his face from smiling. That story would keep for later amongst the other knights after Tristran had gone.

Tristran shook the snow from his hair and scowled as he walked into the tavern. He ignored the stares of those already there and glared at Dagonet making him feel as guilty as if he'd be the one who threw the snowball. The tavern was already full of those that wanted to escape from the cold and the snow and get hot food and good wine and ale to warm them. It looked as if he was going to have the company of several like-minded people but he could cope with that – just.

The End

5


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